1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to removable and collapsible cover system which may be conveniently secured on a boat or other object for protection from damage due to sunshine, wind, water, and other foreign elements. More particularly, the invention relates to such a cover system which can reliably protect a boat or other object over a relatively long time period, is lightweight, can be collapsed into a compact size, and can be easily manipulated between operative and storage positions thereof by one person.
2. Description of the Background Art
There are many known removable boat covers, including some which completely cover the upper portions of boats for storage and/or moving purposes, and others which only cover parts of the upper portions of boats and/or are not intended for storage and moving purposes, such as cockpit covers, cabin covers, and hunting blinds. The present invention is primarily focuses on covers which are used for storage and moving purposes, but aspects of the present invention can also be applied to other types of boat covers and other object covers.
Examples of some of some removable boat covers are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,454,220, 3,192,542, 4,075,723, 4,292,913, 5,343,824, 6,129,034, 6,588,361, 6,659,035, 6,789,495, 7,143,717, and 8,001,919, and published patent application No. 2007/0095271 A1, some of which are discussed further below.
For purposes of reliably protecting boats from damage due to sunshine, wind, water, and other foreign elements over an extended period of time the covers must be securely attached to the boats so as to withstand the forces of wind, rain, waves, etc. Some examples are briefly discussed below, each of which includes some means for securing the covers to boats.
For example, the cover in Pat. No 1,454,220 includes numerous grommets spaced along the periphery of the cover, elongate rails which are secured on outer opposite sides of the boat/canoe, and an elongate rope which is extended through each of the grommets and around the rails in alternating manner; the cover in each of Pat. Nos. 3,192,542 and 6,588,361 includes metal/plastic clips fixed in spaced relation around the periphery of the fabric cover, and wherein the clips are adapted to snap fit or otherwise secure to the upper rails of the boats; the cover in Pat. No. 5,343,824 includes interlocking rails on opposite sides of the boat/canoe, each including a base which is fixed to the outer side of the boat via screws or bolts, an intermediate member that secures/slides over the base, and an outer member which slides over the intermediate member such that the peripheral edge of a flexible cover is trapped/fixed between the intermediate and outer members; the cover in Pat. No. 4,292,913 includes bumper rails which are fixed to the outer sides of the boat, and a plurality of clips having first ends that can be selectively attached to the rails and second ends which can be selectively attached to openings defined in spaced relation around the periphery of a cover using straps; the cover in Pat. No. 4,075,723 is secured to a boat using long ropes that extend through grommets provide along the periphery on one side of the cover and are extended around the hull of the boat and connected to grommets on the other side of the cover, and also includes flexible poles that are bent into an arc shape and have ends secured in pockets provided on the inside periphery of the cover, as well as tensioning cables disposed in conjunction with the poles and pockets; the cover in Pat. No. 6,129,034 is secured near to a boat using a combination of means, including a long flexible cord disposed in a sleeve provided along the periphery of the cover and the ends of which may be tied to transom eyes provided on the exterior of the boat, multiple sleeves provided laterally across the cover for having ribs disposed therein and having pockets at the ends thereof which may be secured to inner side panels of the boat using adhesive and/or screws, resilient bungee cords with hooks at opposite ends for being connected between the cover and the inner side panels or of the boat's transom eyes, and a rope connected between one of the ribs and the boat's motor for tensioning the cover; the cover in Pat. No. 6,659,035 is also secured near the upper rails of a boat using flexible cords disposed in pockets/sleeves at the periphery of the cover, as well as stay-put fasteners attached to the sides of the boat and bungee loops which are connected to the cover and can be extended over the stay-put fasteners; the cover in Pat. No. 7,143,717 includes special rub rails on opposite outer sides of a boat which securely receive numerous fasteners secured about the periphery of the cover and are rotatable 90° once inserted in the rub rails to be locked thereto; the cover in patent publication 2007/0095271 simply includes an adjustable cable/rope disposed in a sleeve/pocket formed around the periphery of the cover and can be adjusted in length for being secured under the upper rail of a boat; and the cover in Pat. No. 8,001,919 uses hook-and-loop type fastener material provided around the periphery of the cover and mating material at appropriate portions of the boat.
As will be appreciated, there are a variety means used for securing these known covers to the boats. Some are quite simple, e.g., the cover in publication 2007/0095271 primarily involving ropes/cords extend around the cover peripheries and tied tight when fitted over the boats' upper rails. This is problematic in that a simple tied cord tends not to be reliable, especially when exposed to severe conditions over longer periods. Some are quite involved, e.g., the covers in Pat. Nos. 7,143,717, 5,343,824, and 1,454,220, which include special rails attached to the boats and which are use for securing peripheral edges of the covers, and the cover in Pat. No. 6,129,034 involving several different securing means. While these securing means provide more reliable securement for the covers than the tied rope, they tend to be significantly more costly than the simple covers, and require relatively labor-involved procedures for attaching and removing the covers to/from boats. Others of the known covers are not particularly simple or complex, but also suffer from various drawbacks including insufficient reliability, insufficient durability, higher cost, etc.
The cover disclosed in Pat. No. 6,789,495 is referred to as “self-supporting” and includes a waterproof cover having shape-providing support rods connected thereto, but no means for actually securing the cover to a boat or any other object are disclosed.
Thus, although all of the known covers generally function to achieve their intended purposes, there are drawbacks associated with the known covers, including the inability of some covers to reliably protect boats from damage due to sunshine, wind, water, and other foreign elements over an extended period of time, particularly when the boats remain in water and are exposed to pounding of waves, cost and/or complexity of some of the covers, difficulty of installing and removing some covers, large size and/or weight of some covers, etc.
Hence, a need still exists in the art for an improved boat cover which is removable and collapsible, may be conveniently secured on a boat or other object for reliably protecting the boat or other object over a relatively long time period, is lightweight, can be collapsed into a compact size, can be easily manipulated between operative and storage positions thereof by a single person, and is relatively inexpensive.